Australia(1788) --- Australia Day
With the loss of its American colonies in 1780, the British Government sent a fleet of ships, the "First Fleet", under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, to establish a new penal colony in New South Wales. A camp was set up and the flag raised at Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, on 26 January 1788, a date which became Australia's national day, Australia Day although the British Crown Colony of New South Wales was not formally promulgated until 7 February 1788. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, the establishment of farming, industry and commerce; and the exploration and settlement of other regions.
Although there was no official recognition of the colony's anniversary, with the New South Wales Almanacks of 1806 and 1808 placing no special significance on 26 January, by 1808 the date was being used by the colony's immigrants, especially the emancipated convicts, to "celebrate their love of the land they lived in" with "drinking and merriment". The 1808 celebrations followed this pattern, beginning at sundown on 25 January, and lasted into the night, the chief toast of the occasion being Major George Johnston. Johnston had the honour of being the first officer ashore from the First Fleet, having been carried from the landing boat on the back of convict James Ruse. Despite suffering the ill-effects of a fall from his gig on the way home to Annandale, Johnston led the officers of the New South Wales Corps in arresting Governor William Bligh on the following day, 26 January 1808, in what became known as the "Rum Rebellion".

India(1950) --- Republic Day
British India consisted of 17 provinces and 562 princely states. The provinces were given to India or Pakistan, in some cases in particular — Punjab and Bengal — after being partitioned. The princes of the princely states, however, won the right to either remain independent or join either nation. Thus India's leaders faced the prospect of inheriting a nation fragmented between medieval-era kingdoms and provinces organized by colonial powers. Out of the 17 provinces, 1 opted out of voting. Under the leadership of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the new Government of India employed political negotiations backed with the option (and, on several occasions, the use) of military action to ensure the primacy of the Central government and of the Constitution then being drafted.

There were three States that proved more difficult to integrate than others:
Junagadh (Hindu majority state with a Muslim nawab) – a December 1947 plebiscite resulted in a 99% vote[10] to merge with India, annulling the controversial accession to Pakistan, which was made despite the people of the state being overwhelmingly Hindu.
Hyderabad (Hindu majority state with a Muslim nizam)– Patel ordered the Indian army to depose the government of the Nizam after the failure of negotiations, which was done between 13–17 September 1948. It was incorporated as a state of India the next year.
The area of Kashmir (Muslim majority state with a Hindu king) in the far north of the subcontinent quickly became a source of controversy that erupted into the First Indo-Pakistani War which lasted from 1947 to 1949. Eventually a United Nations-overseen ceasefire was agreed that left India in control of two thirds of the contested region. Jawaharlal Nehru initially agreed to Mountbatten’s proposal that a plebiscite be held in the entire state as soon as hostilities ceased, and a UN-sponsored cease-fire was agreed to by both parties on Jan. 1, 1949. No statewide plebiscite was held, however, for in 1954, after Pakistan began to receive arms from the United States, Nehru withdrew his support. The Indian Constitution came into force in Kashmir on 26 January 1950 with special clauses for the state.

The Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution of India, drafted by a committee headed by B. R. Ambedkar, on 26 November 1949. India became a sovereign,democratic, republic after its constitution came into effect on 26 January 1950. Rajendra Prasad became the first President of India. The words 'socialist' and 'secular' were added later with the 42nd Constitution Amendment 1976.

__________________
Hug it out as long as it takes, people
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"People were created to be loved
things were created to be used.
The reason why the world is in chaos is because things are being loved, and people are being used."

Australia it is It would be a shame on this day not to mention Margaret Court, record holder with 24 individual and 62 slams including doubles, two records that most likely will never be beaten. Also Rod Laver, the only man to win the Grand Slam twice. Both of them solid GOAT candidates.

Australia it is It would be a shame on this day not to mention Margaret Court, record holder with 24 individual and 62 slams including doubles, two records that most likely will never be beaten. Also Rod Laver, the only man to win the Grand Slam twice. Both of them solid GOAT candidates.

__________________
Hug it out as long as it takes, people
--------------------------------------------
"People were created to be loved
things were created to be used.
The reason why the world is in chaos is because things are being loved, and people are being used."

Australia it is It would be a shame on this day not to mention Margaret Court, record holder with 24 individual and 62 slams including doubles, two records that most likely will never be beaten. Also Rod Laver, the only man to win the Grand Slam twice. Both of them solid GOAT candidates.

The Celebration is while the A.O. is still taking place. I think I remember that they actually will interrupt a Match for the Fireworks?

It would be a shame on this day not to mention Margaret Court, record holder with 24 individual and 62 slams including doubles, two records that most likely will never be beaten. Also Rod Laver, the only man to win the Grand Slam twice. Both of them solid GOAT candidates.

It would be a shame on this day not to mention Vijay Amritraj, part of the ABC of tennis.

Please don't be offended. With time to spare (no celebrations on the 25th or 27th) I give one entire day to both. Australia is first in the alphabet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pratik

It would be a shame on this day not to mention Vijay Amritraj, part of the ABC of tennis.

Indeed! Me, I want to mention Vishwanathan Anand, current World Chess Champion, and part of the world's chess elite for 20 years. An unprecedented feat for a player from a nation with few traditions in this sport.

Please don't be offended. With time to spare (no celebrations on the 25th or 27th) I give one entire day to both. Australia is first in the alphabet.

It's okay. I wasn't offended. It's nice to the Indian flag on someone other than Chirag, Sri or myself.(Start da Game doesn't count)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Litotes

Indeed! Me, I want to mention Vishwanathan Anand, current World Chess Champion, and part of the world's chess elite for 20 years. An unprecedented feat for a player from a nation with few traditions in this sport.

I thought we(well actually, you) were only mentioning tennis players. We may not have too many chess players before Anand. But chess is supposed to have originated in India.